Known master cylinder levers for hydraulic disc brakes are designed for mounting on either a right handlebar or a left handlebar, but not both. Right and left specific master cylinder levers requires manufacturers to have two sets of tooling, which increases manufacturing costs and the complexity of the manufacturing process. In addition, bicycle manufacturers and lever suppliers must order sufficient right and left master cylinder levers to meet their needs and must maintain inventories of both right and left specific levers which increases stocking requirements over what would be required if a single lever could be deployed on the right or left handlebar.
An additional problem with most prior art master cylinder levers is the reservoir for hydraulic fluid can allow bubbles within the reservoir to enter the timing or compensation ports if the master cylinder and associated reservoir attain some undesired orientation. One known solution to the problem of air entering the timing or compensation ports is shown in Buckley, U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,639. Buckley teaches an inner cylindrical body within which a piston is axially aligned. A sidewall of the cylindrical body is surrounded by a bladder to define a fluid reservoir surrounding the cylindrical body. This structure substantially prevents air from entering the timing port or the compensating port regardless of the orientation of the master cylinder assembly, however, the structure shown in Buckley is expensive and difficult to manufacture.
The present invention is intended to overcome one or more of the problems discussed above.